Hydrophobic coatings are useful for many applications. One common application is in the automotive industry. As is known, various surfaces on a vehicle are exposed to the environment. In order to preserve the appearance of vehicles, it is common for owners to apply coatings to the exposed surfaces with the goal being to keep those surfaces clean. For example, the wheel rims on a car experience a particularly harsh environment. Often, the surfaces on wheel rims accumulate, among other types of “dirt,” debris from the brake pads. This debris usually has a distinctive gray/black color when it adheres to the surfaces of the wheel rim usually in the presence of moisture. Of course, the discoloration of the wheels detracts from the appearance of the vehicle and may cause permanent deterioration of the appearance of the wheel rims. Accordingly, cleaning the debris from the rims is a regular task that is made more difficult by the popular, but intricate, rim designs and by the stubborn adherence of debris to the rim's surfaces.
In an effort to thwart dirt buildup and thereby preserve surfaces, various hydrophobic coatings have been developed. These hydrophobic coatings generally repel water to some degree and thereby enable the surface to resist dirt build up. However, hydrophobic coatings that are produced by current products are defective in many ways. For example, they are difficult to apply, do not provide a sufficient amount of hydrophobicity to the surface, are not removable or are too easily removed, and/or are too costly as to make them impracticable.
There is, therefore, a need for a coating composition that, when applied, produces a surface that is hydrophobic but that is easily applied, is durable, but removable while being cost effective to manufacture. Furthermore, the degree of the hydrophobicity of the coating formed thereby should prevent the appearance of water marks, inhibit corrosion, and prevent attachment of debris, dirt, and the like.